It’s 10:41 p.m. ET Monday night and William Byron, on a golf kart heading to his motor home, is finally getting to look at his cellphone.
“Holy (expletive),” he laughs. “Oh my God.”
Byron had won the Daytona 500 nearly three hours earlier. It had been chaotic since then after his frontstretch celebration and interview gave way to the victory lane celebration and interview, plus numerous photos and media hits before even getting to the media center to speak to the print press. The 28-minute news conference ended at 10:18 p.m. ET before Byron was shuffled into another room to sit down for a NASCAR Productions interview and a scripted read that will be played at Daytona when tours come through the rest of the year.
“That’s a pretty awesome trophy,” Byron said when done, patting the Harley J. Earl Trophy on the stand before him. “So shiny.”
By the time Byron was done and headed for the golf kart, his champagne and beer-soaked firesuit felt more like an ice blanket. Byron was ready to change into something warmer before heading to the garage to see his team.
“How about that,” Byron said to his PR representative, Ashly Ennis, as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders before getting on the golf kart. Then came the glance at his cellphone, which now had nearly 150 messages.
Freshly clothed in all black sporting black, white and gold Jordans, Byron bid farewell to his mom, Dana, outside his motorhome before heading to the garage at 10:56 p.m. ET. After quickly popping into the empty hauler, Byron headed to the inspection area where his No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet and the No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, which finished second, were still going through the process.
The winning team for the Daytona 500 not only goes through complete post-race teardown (and put the car back together), but the inspection process takes longer than a usual race weekend as the engine is also removed and torn down. While tedious, considering its meaning, it’s one of the most enjoyable tech inspections of the year.
As the work continued, Byron and his team enjoyed adult beverages from nearby coolers. At one point, Byron stood with two other team members and watched the Xfinity Series race, postponed until after the Daytona 500, on a cellphone.
“There’s always a race on,” Byron quipped.
Byron spent quite a while talking with crew chief Rudy Fugle. Alex Bowman’s crew chief, Blake Harris, came over with a red solo cup for a fist bump and congratulations.
“It’s the best moment ever,” Byron told RACER while standing there. “To see my guys that’s what we do it for, is that tight knit group. It’s just cool to see the car. We were just talking about the paint scheme and how good it looks. Obviously, it looks good with confetti on it, but it really did look good under lights.
“It’s just a super special day. It’s not even set in yet. It’s going to take a long time to understand the magnitude of it, but it’s really cool.”
The hope was that Byron and Ennis would be able to stick around when word came the car had cleared inspection. Byron wanted to have a celebratory toast with the team (or at least those in attendance since his pit crew had returned to work, pitting the No. 8 car for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series race). Since the race was run Monday, it would be a quick turnaround for Byron, who was off to New York that same night for his Tuesday victory tour.
By 11:29 p.m. ET, it was unlikely Byron would be able to stay to hear his victory was official. As he and the team huddled together with smiles, eating boxed food earlier brought into the garage, the confetti-covered car still sat torn apart.
Daytona 500 confetti is special to Byron. Long before he was a race car driver, the image of the Daytona 500 champion being showered in confetti in victory lane was seared into his memory. Being able to experience that for himself was an unreal feeling.
“I remember seeing Jimmie Johnson win the ’06 (Daytona) 500 and just that feeling in that moment for him,” Byron said of the race that took place when he was seven. “I feel like that’s what I remember the most. You obviously remember the frontstretch celebration, but I always feel like it’s a bit messy. There’s always a lot of uncoordinated celebration, which is how mine was. Mine was terrible. It’s after the fact, when you pull into victory lane, that is the real authentic moment that’s historic.”
There were moments leading into Monday’s race that gave Byron an indication it was going to be a good day. Amazingly, Byron wasn’t considering winning because he’d never finished better than 21st in the Daytona 500. He just wanted to end the day on the lead lap.
After being introduced at driver introductions, Byron took the obligatory ride down the frontstretch in front of the grandstands. When he got to the drop-off point at the entrance to pit road, Ennis asked if he wanted to meet grand marshal Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, as many of his fellow drivers were doing.
Byron declined and started walking toward the grid, quipping, “I’m ready to rock.”
“I did!” Byron laughed when reminded of what he said. “I was honestly not nervous today. I was confident; I don’t know what it was. I just was not nervous about the race at all. It probably took most of the race to find my rhythm because I haven’t raced since November/December and typically, I go down and do the races at New Smyrna (before the Daytona 500), but I felt really green this week. I guess that was a good thing; I felt fresh.
“Today, I felt like our group was confident. Rudy, for some reason, has been high on this race all offseason, obviously it being the first one, but I didn’t know how much this race meant to him until going through December and January and him talking about it a lot. So, it’s pretty special.”
Byron’s walk to his car was “peaceful,” allowing him to be with his thoughts. He enjoyed being around the team and his family, shutting off everything else.
“Nothing else matters at that point,” Byron said. “It’s just about you and the race car and your team and how you’re going to work through the day. It was a really calm day, I’d say. I tried to go to Jersey Mike’s earlier and that was not successful. There was a lot of traffic over there. But I was just really relaxed today.
“I’m relaxed usually after advancing through the playoffs or a win. I’ll race the next race really relaxed. But I felt like I showed up today and had that mindset. I need to carry that forward for sure.”
Byron’s time in the garage ended at 11:54 p.m. ET, already slightly behind schedule to be at the airport. It was wheels up at 12:45 a.m. ET (about 15 minutes before NASCAR officially announced inspection was clear), wheels down at 2:57 a.m. ET and finally, at 3:35 a.m. ET, arrival at the hotel in New York.
The fun kicked off with a hotel departure time of 7:20 a.m. ET. Byron was slated for appearances all day, including Fox & Friends, Live with Kelly and Mark, Forbes, the Weather Channel, CNN World Sport, SiriusXM, and photos at the Empire State Building. There might have also been a stop for New York-style pizza and NASCAR security grabbing dessert from a cupcake bakery. By this time, Byron’s unread messages had swelled to 207.
It’ll be some time before the spoils of winning the Daytona 500 slow down and fade away. Byron landed back in North Carolina at 8:28 p.m. ET Tuesday night, just about 24 hours after being presented the trophy in victory lane. There will be that toast with the team Wednesday and more media obligations, some after this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In the meantime, Byron continues to digest his accomplishment. And eventually, he might be able to explain what other drivers mean when they say winning the Daytona 500 changes your life.
“I don’t know yet,” Byron said of what that might mean. “I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the last 12 to 15 months about life in general, but I think this will be a whole different experience just going through this race. There’s just a lot of things still left to accomplish but this is definitely up there. It’s P1 for sure.”